Home objects
05.13.20

Sighted

Candle Wax Tables and Mattress Foam Chairs: Tour One of the Best Waste-Material Reclamations We’ve Seen

Carsten in der Elst's recent graduate project, Heavy Duty, is every design student ever's wet dream — traveling around to different regional factories, asking them to identify their primary waste materials, then collaborating with them to use their existing production processes to turn those byproducts into something new. Unlike every other design student ever, though, in der Elst's results actually transcend his original thesis, amounting to a vast collection of objects that, if a gallery like Kreo or Friedman Benda released them from a mid-career designer, we wouldn't bat an eyelash.
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05.12.20

Sighted

A New Collection of Steel and Stone Chairs That Combine Minimalism With Personality

The work of Danish interior and product designer Lisette Rutzou is characterized by a funny sleight of hand — at first you think you're looking at something really classical and elemental, and then you realize she's snuck in a whole other aesthetic language, more vibey and directional than you initially understood. Her newest collection of chairs and benches, Ego, has that same feeling.
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05.04.20

Shopping

A Lanvin Alum Who Pivoted to Design — And Just Released Our ’80s Dream Lamp

Ever since Golden Girls style became a thing two years ago, it's become something of a sport among Instagram vintage accounts to continuously drop ever-larger, ever-more-curvaceous '80s lacquered furniture sets than you dreamed could possibly exist. But leave it to a former accessories designer to recognize that sometimes a little bit of a big trend is all you need — Nadia El Abany's new collection of striped and color-blocked columnar lamps, their high-gloss ceramic bases and linen shades straight out of a Miami estate sale, let you scratch that particular itch without having to go all in.
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04.09.20

Current Obsession

Think Face Pottery Is a Millennial Thing? Meet the Artist Who’s Been Doing It Since the ’70s

When Jill and I posted pictures of our favorite books on Instagram last week, mine featured one of my favorite objects in my living room, shown above: A pot, used by me as a planter, that features two hand-painted, color-blocked pastel faces. I bought it on eBay for $10 a year and a half ago. I don't remember how I found it. I had no idea, at the time, who the maker was, only that her name was Victoria Crowell and I assumed she was an obscure local artisan who made the pot in the '80s. I was mostly correct.
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03.24.20

Fair Report

Our 3 Favorite Projects from the Pandemic-Shuttered Melbourne Design Week 2020

Just as Melbourne Design Week was set to open its largest edition ever a week and a half ago, with over 200 events ready to launch around the city, it was largely shut down by the COVID-19 crisis, one of the increasing design-world casualties the virus has claimed this year. We spotted a few great projects in our inboxes and on Instagram, though, so we're highlighting our three favorites here.
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03.10.20

Fair Report

The 21 Best Things We Saw at the 2020 Collectible Design Fair

Collectible has evolved to be one our favorite design fairs, what with its mix of established galleries and emerging designers, its long arm of experimentation, and its emphasis on *great* sceneography. Our favorite booth this year was obviously our own, a pink oasis framed by layered, tonal, sculptural mirrors by Ben & Aja Blanc. Called Chasing Beauty, Ben & Aja's collection explores the very nature of reflection; at the fair, mirrors on opposite walls reflecting each other added yet a another meta layer of interpretation.
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02.28.20

Excerpt: Exhibition

This Barcelona Studio Asked a Painter to Choose the Colors of Its New Chair

When Gerrit Rietveld designed his famed Red and Blue Chair in 1917, it wasn't red and blue at all, but plain, unstained beech wood. Only six years later, after his De Stijl collaborator Bart van der Leck suggested he add bright colors, did Rietveld create the version that went on to make history. The same is true, in a way, of the Barcelona studio AOO's Chair 8, whose colors were envisioned by painter Claudia Valsells for a recent collaborative exhibition in Spain.
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02.05.20

Shopping

Goblets Are Your New Kitchen Must-Have

In February of 2018, we were Google-searching glassware for another story when we stumbled upon a series of objects from the '50s that awoke in us an obsession for thick-stemmed wine glasses that we never knew we had: Kaj Franck's series of colorful goblets. Two years later, our obsession has only grown, and we think they're the thing to have on your table now.
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Kelly Wearstler furniture collection
12.13.19

American Design Hot List

Kelly Wearstler Just Won 2020 With Her New Furniture Collection

LA designer Kelly Wearstler has had a big year, from the launch of her first book in 10 years to the rollout of her designs for Proper Hotels — most notably Santa Monica, which has become a major source of Instagram fodder for its chair orgy, its iconic curved headboard, and commissions from young designers like Chris Wolston and Wentrcek/Zebulon. Today we got a peek at her new collection for 2020, and it continues in the same excellent vein
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12.06.19

Gift Guides

Own a Piece of Design History: The 2019 Sight Unseen Gift Guide, Part IV

The architect Philip Johnson spent 46 years building the 14 structures that comprise the Glass House, and 58 years personally living there. It's an incredibly important snapshot of design history, spanning the years 1949 to 2007, and our final gift guide this week has similar aims: We've rounded up 27 of our favorite important design objects that are available for sale in the Glass House Store, from iconic 1920s lamps and 1950s Aubock paperweights to more recent pieces that are on their way to becoming icons in the future.
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12.05.19

Gift Guides

Croissant Lamps and Bauhaus Blankets: The 2019 Sight Unseen Gift Guide, Part III

For today's gift guide, we turned the tables, asking some of our favorite designers and influencers to share their best gifts for giving and receiving. The results were kiiiinda great — who wouldn't want a croissant-shaped lamp (that's Ellen Van Dusen's pick), a portable jacuzzi (chef Angela Dimayuga), or a shiny pink purse adorned with fruit salad (interior designer Sally Breer)? Plus, over on Instagram, you’ll have the chance to win four of the coolest items from this guide.
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